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ADDRESS 



DELIVF.RKD AT TnK 



FOURTH SESSION 



Sramtan Igumtrlugical fstwty, 



ROCHESTER, N. Y., SEPTEMBER 24, 25, AND 26, 1856. 



MARSHALL P . WILD E R 



PRESIDENT OF THE SOCIETY'. 



BOS TO N 



PRESS OF THE FRANKUX PKIXTINC Q 

C O R X E I! V B A K K I. I X A N I) » A W I. F. V STBB11 

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ADDRESS 



DELIVERED AT THE 






LOW-M SESSION 



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mmm Hflmflhrgual §ntitty, 



ROCHESTER, N. T., SEPTEMBER 24, 25, AND 26, 1856. 



MARSHALL pV^WILDEE, 



PRESIDENT OP THE SOCIETY. 



BOSTON: 

PRESS OP THE FRANKLIN PRINTING HOUSE, 

CORSES FRANKLIN AND HAWLBT STREETS. 

1856. 



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ADDRESS. 



Gentlemen of the American Pomological Society: 

The official position in which your suffrages have placed 
me, renders it my duty to address you at this time. "Were I 
to consult my own inclination, I should listen with great 
pleasure to some of the distinguished cultivators whom I see 
around me, and whose scientific attainments and practical 
knowledge well qualify them for this service. But in the 
discharge of this trust, I am inspired with the hope that you 
will indulge me in the privilege of sharing in your discus- 
sions, and in the treasures of your ripe experience. 

Amidst the rapid strides of the arts and sciences in our time, 
it is gratifying to know that Pomology has not been stationary. 
Few subjects exhibit so remarkably the progress of civiliza- 
tion and improvement as the cultivation of fruit. It is now 
only about a quarter of a centurysince the establishment of 
the oldest horticultural society in America. Then, these 
associations were few and feeble ; now they are numerous and 
influential, extending from the British Provinces to the Gulf 
of Mexico, and from ocean to ocean, — all working together 
in harmony with each other, and aiding our association, 
whose field is our national domain. Then the fruit crop 
of the country was not deemed worthy of a place in our 
national statistics; now it exceeds thirty millions of dollars 
annually, and is rapidly becoming one of the most valuable 
and indispensable products of our Republic. Then the sales 
of fruit trees were numbered by hundreds, now by hundreds 
of thousands. Then choice fruit was a luxury to be found 



only in the palace of the opulent ; now it helps to furnish 
the table of the humble cottager, and comparatively few are 
the hamlets which are without their fruit tree or grape vine. 

It is only eight years since the organization of this Pomo- 
logical Society ; now kindred associations exist in various 
districts and States, and are exerting a powerful and salutary 
influence. Their delegates and representatives I am most 
happy to welcome to a participation in the privileges of this 
occasion. 

This improvement is full of promise, and encourages us to 
greater perseverance. When we look back to the days of 
Duhamel, Miller and Forsyth, we perceive that we have made 
laudable progress. When we compare those numerous 
splendid varieties which we have obtained with the limited 
catalogues of the first part of the present century, we may 
well be proud of our actual knowledge. From the days of 
Henry Fourth of France, when his favorite Bon Chretien was 
almost the only pear ; from the time of Queen Elizabeth, who 
sent to Holland to obtain lettuce for her royal table, down to 
the present century, there has been a gradual advance, but in 
our day it has indeed been astonishing, and still our course is 
onward and upward. 

We have long since discarded the inferior fruits of La 
Quitftinye, t ] ae s kilf u l gardener of Louis the XlVth. We 
have few pears left of the celebrated catalogue of the Royal 
Garden of Versailles, and by the action of our own associa- 
tion we have rejected more than one hundred varieties as 
unworthy of perpetuation. At present, who would give a 
place in his garden to such pears as the Chatbrule, the Martin 
Sec, the Messire Jean, the Bourdon, the Lansac, the Cassolette, 
and a host of other worthless sorts ? Some good fruits have 
survived, as the White Doyenne, Madeleine, Jargonelle, and 
others, but a part of these only are suited to general 
cultivation ; — yet how limited their number, and how inferior 
their quality, when compared with our choice modern seed- 
lings, and the royal profusion of fruits which now crown our 
tables ! 



When Van Mons, the patient and skilful observer, was suc- 
cessfully experimenting in Europe, our Coxe, Prince, Lowell, 
Dearborn, Manning, and others, had commenced their course, 
and obtained some good results. Then most of our pears were 
propagated on suckers taken from the forest ; now we see 
millions of young vigorous trees cultivated, sold, and planted 
in all parts of the Union, and where twenty years since not a 
single specimen of the Pyrus was to be found. The public 
no longer ridicule the man who plants a tree with the hope 
of gathering its fruit with his own hands, or the saving of 
seeds to improve the quality of his fruits. True, Van Mons 
was ridiculed all his life, and only appreciated by such 
pioneers as Davy, Poiteau, Diel and Drapiez. His nurseries 
were thrice destroyed, as wild, worthless thorn bushes, under 
the false pretence of " public utility." This was an irrepara- 
ble loss, for however much his system be discussed and dis- 
trusted, it is still true that the results of his experience have 
been most beneficial to the world. 

An honorable member of this association and myself have 
in trust many of the seedlings of that great master of pomol- 
ogy, which have not yet fruited. We have those of the 
eighth generation, which, from vigor, beauty and signs of 
refinement, give promise of superior character, and seem to 
confirm his doctrine of improvement by successive repro- 
duction. And while we are anxiously awaiting the further 
and ultimate results of his theory, others on this side of the 
Atlantic are zealously engaged in hybridization and experi- 
ments which cannot fail to be of immense advantage to the 
scientific and practical cultivator. 

This progress should cheer us onward. No other country, 
in extent and variety of soil and climate, is so well adapted, 
or offers so great advantages to the pomologist. Not only 
does our correspondence from abroad testify to the truth of 
this statement, but our rapidly extending domain continually 
dcvelopes new facts in confirmation of this sentiment. 

By the reports from individual fruit growers, and from 
associations, it appears that some varieties of the pear succeed 



equally as well in the extreme south part of our Union as in 
the north. A gentleman from Oregon Territory recently 
informed me that settlers there had already provided themselves 
with extensive orchards, and from which they gather fruits 
of great size and excellence. He also makes a similar report 
in relation to Washington Territory, and instances among 
others an orchard of one hundred acres, which is now yielding 
a large annual income to its proprietor. 

A letter from the Vice President of this Society for Utah, 
on the borders of the Great Salt Lake, expresses the hope that 
it will not be long before that region shall be a successful 
rival of other parts of the Union in variety and excellence 
of its fruits. Similar accounts are received from the district 
of Santa Clara. 

Another communication, from an officer of this Society in 
California, assures me of the great progress in our cause in 
that State, and pledges a full report of its Horticultural Exhi- 
bition for our Transactions. One of my neighbors who went 
to California in 1854, and now residing in Napa city, writes : 
" Such is the rapid growth of vegetation in that district, that 
apple trees, from seed planted in the spring of 1853, and bud- 
ded the same year, yielded fruit in the autumn of 1855." He 
says, " I wish you could take a look at our peach orchard, loaded 
with three to four thousand baskets of fruit. You could hardly 
believe that the trees had made all their growth, and were most 
of them raised from seed, since I came to California, February 
1, 1854. The crop from this orchard is now (July 18, 1856,) 
going to market, and we expect will amount to between ten and 
twenty thousand dollars." The proprietor of that crop has 
called on me within a few days, confirms these statements, and 
reports that the crop and prices fully realized all anticipations. 
Such is the zeal now manifested in the cause of Pomology, 
and such are the facilities for intercommunication, that Ave are 
continually receiving valuable contributions from all parts of 
the country and the world. 

When we consider the progress of the grape culture in 
'the single State ot Ohio, and its great increase in other 



States, amounting now to more than two millions of dollars 
annually — the immense quantities of peaches and strawber- 
ries brought to our markets, the rapid multiplication of the 
apple, the pear, and other fruits throughout our land, and 
the millions of trees annually sent out from this vicinity and 
other parts, it is not easy to calculate the future importance 
of fruit culture, whether viewed as a means of furnishing 
luxuries for our table, or articles of domestic and foreign 
commerce. 

In my last address, I called your attention to the import- 
ance of raising new and improved varieties from seed as the 
best method of increasing and preserving our supply of choice 
fruits. "Whether the theory of the running out of varieties 
be true or false, so thoroughly am I convinced of the great 
practical utility of this recommendation, that I feel especially 
desirous, while I have the opportunity, of encouraging you 
to perseverance, and of guarding your minds against expo- 
sure to failures. 

A false doctrine prevails among some, although founded on 
the theory of Van Mons, " that scions taken from seedlings, and 
grafted into stocks, however strong and healthy, will not yield, 
fruit earlier than it may he obtained from the mother ylant." 
Adopting this theory as true, many cultivators have been dis- 
couraged on account of the length of the process. Whatever 
may have been the experience which called forth this theory 
from its learned author, in the localities where it originated, 
or where it has been advocated, my reading and personal 
observation constrain me to question its truthfulness ; certainly 
its application to our own country. For instance, the fact is 
familiar to you all, that scions of the pear come into bearing, 
when grafted on the quince, earlier than on the pear stock. 
This is believed to result from the early maturity of the quince, 
which, while it does not change the variety of the pear, im- 
parts its own precocity thereto. We realize a corresponding 
hastening to maturity when the scion is grafted into a pear 
ree which has also arrived at maturity ; especially is this to 



8 

be expected when the stock is in itself one of a precocious 
character. If any facts seem to oppose this doctrine, they 
may be regarded either as exceptions to the general law, or 
as the results of locality and cultivation. 

The physiological principle of the vegetable kingdom under 
which this doctrine obtains is, that the bud contains the em- 
bryo tree, and that the strong or precocious stock constrains 
it to elaborate more material into wood and foliage, and thus 
promotes both growth and fruitfulness. 

Common sense, as well as common observation, confirm 
this statement. Witness the pear, which we have known to 
fruit the fourth year from seed, when grafted on the quince. 
We know a seedling from the Seckel pear, grafted on the 
Bartlett, which bore the present season, and is only four years 
from the seed. The Catharine Garclette, raised by Dr. 
Brinckle, was brought into bearing by grafting on the quince 
in five years, while the original seedlings, in all these instances, 
are only three to five feet in height, and will require several 
additional years to bring them into bearing. Is it reasonable 
to suppose that a seedling pear, which, in two years, in a 
given location, attains the height of one or two feet with but 
few branches, will fruit as early as a scion from the same 
seedling, when grafted on a strong tree, which elaborates and 
assimilates through its abundant branches and luxuriant foli- 
age, ten times the amount of all the elements constituting 
growth and maturity ? 

Hence, enforcing a former suggestion, in respect to raising 
new varieties, I respectfully urge you to continue and increase 
your efforts, and, in order to hasten maturity, and to multiply 
the chances of success, I confidently recommend the grafting 
of seedling fruits at the earliest possible moment. 

In respect to the best method of obtaining choice varieties 
from seed, I urged you " to plant the most mature and per- 
fect seed of the most hardy and vigorous sorts" 

Additional experience has confirmed my faith in this doc- 
trine ; for, where seeds have been obtained from cross fertili- 
zation of healthy and strong growers, the progeny has par- 



9 

taken of the same character ; but, where the parents have been 
of slender habit, or slow growth, the offspring have exhib- 
ited corresponding qualities. If this fact may be relied upon, 
though the process of artificial impregnation be difficult and 
tedious, yet, pursued with skill and perseverance, it will ulti- 
mately secure a rich reward. We should not be disheartened 
by the poor success of Duhamel, or of Mr. Knight, with his 
hybridized pears ; for the failure of the latter is attributable to 
the selection of inferior varieties, from which his seedlings 
were raised. In reliance upon natural fertilization, I would 
still encourage the continual planting of the seeds of choice 
varieties of all kinds of fruit, in the belief that new and val- 
uable varieties may thus be obtained. By these various proc- 
esses, we shall have continual accessions to our collections of 
such choice fruits as the Beurre Clairgeau, Beurre d'Anjou, 
and Doyenne Boussock pears. Let nothing discourage you 
in this most hopeful department of pomology. Go on, 
persevere ; 



" Give new endeavors to the mystic art, 
Try every scheme, and riper views impart ; 
"NVho knows what meed thy labors may await ? 
What glorious fruits thy conquests may create : 



These are triumphs worthy of the highest ambition, con- 
quests which leave no wound on the heart of memory, no 
stain on the wing of time. He who only adds one really 
valuable variety to our list of fruits is a public benefactor. I 
had rather be the man who planted that umbrageous tree, 
from whose bending branches future generations shall pluck 
the luscious fruit, when I am sleeping beneath the clods of 
the valley, than he who has conquered armies. I would pre- 
fer the honor of introducing the Baldwin apple, the Scckel 
pear, Hovey's Seedling strawberry, aye, or the Black Tarta- 
rian cherry from the Crimea, to the proudest victory which 
has been won upon that blood-stained soil. 



10 

But the production of new and choice varieties of fruit is 
not the only labor of the pomologist. The great annual loss 
from decay constrains me to say a word more on the preser- 
vation of fruits. Probably twenty-five per cent, of our sum- 
mer and early autumn fruits either rot, or, to prevent loss, 
are forced upon the market at very low prices. In the hot 
season of the year, and with certain species of fruit, this evil 
cannot be entirely overcome ; but that it may, in a great meas- 
ure, be controlled by suitable fruit-rooms and other expedi- 
ents ; and that we may thus prolong the season of fruits beyond 
their usual duration, we entertain no reasonable doubt. What 
we especially need, is valuable late autumn and winter sorts. 
These, however, will not supersede the necessity of suitable 
storehouses, without which the heat of our warm autumnal 
months is liable to start the ripening process, and compel us 
to dispose of them. 

The proper construction and management of these is, there- 
fore, commanding the attention of pomologists, both in this 
country and in Europe. Their success is found to depend on 
a perfect control of the temperature, moisture and light. 
After having built and managed four fruit-rooms, upon dif- 
ferent plans, I am of opinion that a proper equilibrium of 
temperature and moisture cannot ordinarily be obtained with- 
out the use of ice. The preservation of the apple is less 
difficult than that of most other fruits, and is tolerably well 
understood by our farmers. Still, how few specimens, even 
of this fruit, are brought to our spring market in a fresh and 
perfect condition ! The art of keeping the pear, and fruits of 
delicate texture, is much more difficult ; and it is to these I 
particularly refer. 

Having heard of the great success of Mr. Schooley, of 
Cincinnati, Ohio, by his celebrated discovery for the pre- 
servation of meats, I opened a correspondence with him 
with respect to the application of the same process to the 
preservation of fruits. He subsequently visited me at Eos- 
ton, and advised as to the construction of a fruit-room upon 
his principle. This I have found, during the last winter and 



11 

the present summer, to operate in accordance with his state- 
ment, as illustrated by Professor Locke, in his " Monograph 
upon the Preservation of Organic Substances." By his plan, 
the temperature and moisture of the fruit-room, and conse- 
quently the ripening of the fruit, may be perfectly controlled. 
One gentleman informs me that he kept strawberries in a 
fruit-room constructed on this plan from June 1st to the 20th, 
in perfect condition for the table ; and he entertains no doubt 
of its complete success in the preservation of apples and pears 
indefinitely. Mr. Schooley writes me that, in the month of 
June, he received several barrels of Bellflower apples, which 
had been kept for eight months, that were sold in that mar- 
ket, at two dollars and twenty-five cents per bushel. The 
remainder out of eight hundred bushels was sold at home 
at three dollars per bushel. These apples were purchased at 
random from the strolling wagons passing through the streets 
of Dayton, and were more or less bruised by careless pick- 
ing and transportation. My own experience corresponds 
with these statements. 

The construction of these rooms is simple. All that is 
required is walls made of non-conducting materials, with an 
apartment for the ice above the fruit-room, and with Mr. 
Schooley's descending flues for the cold air, so as to preserve 
an equable temperature and moisture, and to hold the ripen- 
ing process in suspense. The air, by passing over the ice, is 
deprived of its moisture, and, being cold, and specifically 
heavier than the surrounding atmosphere, falls through his 
descending flues, and, by a ventilator, escapes on one side 
of the room, thus creating a temperature not only cool, but 
dry. This principle, I am informed by a distinguished mem- 
ber of the medical faculty, may be applied to the construc- 
tion of hospitals with great advantage, so that the air may 
be kept at a uniform temperature and degree of humidity. 
For a more particular account of this process, I refer you 
to Professor Locke's Monograph, and to the inventor's let- 
ter, herewith submitted. 

In these remarks, our object has been to provide against 



12 

the maturing of fruits until the season when they are wanted 
for use. Care should, however, he exercised, especially with 
the pear, and more delicate fruits, not to reduce the tempera- 
ture much below 45 degrees of Fahrenheit, lest the vital prin- 
ciple of the fruit be destroyed, and the flavor lost. 



Time admonishes me to be brief, but I cannot refrain from 
alluding to the appropriate location, soil and treatment of 
fruit trees. These are subjects surrounded with mystery, and 
which can be relieved only by study and personal experience. 
The importance of thorough draining, and perfect prepara- 
tion of the soil, have not received the consideration they de- 
serve ; especially where its silicious character does not furnish 
a ready natural conductor to superfluous moisture. Thorough 
draining lies at the foundation of all successful cultivation. 
In cold, wet, undrained grounds, the disease of trees com- 
mences at the root, which absorbs injurious substances, and 
the tree ceases properly to elaborate its nutritious matter. 
Wherever there is an excess of water, and consequently too 
low a temperature, and the soil is not properly drained and 
thoroughly worked, the vital energies of the plant are soon 
impaired, and its functions deranged. I am inclined to think 
that death by drowning is quite as common in the vegetable 
as in the animal kingdom, with this difference, that it is not so 
sudden. How many of the diseases, such as the spotting of 
the leaf and fruit, the cancer, fungi and decomposition of the 
bark, are attributable to this cause, it is not easy to determine. 
Perfect drainage, which should always be accompanied with 
subsoiling or trenching, permits the air and light to penetrate 
and sweeten the soil, warms it, and prepares its latent fertiliz- 
ing properties for the nourishment of the plant. 

A writer in the Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society 
of England says : " I have frequently found the soil of a well- 
drained field higher in temperature from 10 to 15 degrees than 
that of another field, not so drained, though in every other 
respect the soils were similar." Another advantage is, that 



13 

vegetation seldom or never suffers from the drought, where 
the soil has been properly drained and worked. 

The necessity of thorough drainage and perfect pulveriza- 
tion of the soil, is not less for fruits in open cultivation, than 
for the grape under glass, where one of the pre-requisites has 
ever been the perfect drainage of the border. 

In relation to locality, some succeed best in one place, 
while others nourish well in several districts, and are else- 
where nearly worthless, and a few are adapted to general 
cultivation. 

The affinity of the stock to the graft, is of immense impor- 
tance to the happy union and success of both. Some unite 
as though ordained by Heaven to be joined, while others resist 
all the appliances of art. We have seen trees made sick by 
the insertion of an uncongenial scion, and finally destroyed. 
Well does a writer remark, that " it is from the analogy 
of the stock and graft that healthy vigor results, and unless 
this analogy is sufficiently close, it is impossible to obtain 
fruits in perfection. Not only does this influence manifest 
itself in the vigor and hardiness of the tree, but also in 
the quality of the fruit and the time of ripening." We must, 
therefore, learn on what kind of stock, in what soil and 
aspect, and with what treatment each variety will flourish best. 
As I have before remarked, every tree, plant and herb, from the 
cedar of Lebanon to the flag of the Nile, from the loftiest oak 
of the forest to * the humblest daisy of the meadow, from the 
fantastic parasite luxuriating in solstitial air to the little flower 
that peeps from Alpine snows, every thing endowed with 
vegetable life, requires its own peculiar element and treat- 
ment to sustain its vigor, and secure its highest possible per- 
fection. However varied this sustenance may be, and whether 
derived from earth, air or water, if it be uncongenial, deteri- 
oration and decay are inevitable. Every branch, twig and 
bud, every leaf that flutters in the breeze, is an organized and 
living body. Each has its correlative part, and any injury 
done to the one will be felt in the other. 



14 

Under these general laws, each variety requires a particular 
treatment, and should be nurtured with a wise reference to its 
peculiarities and habits. I am inclined to believe that the 
most valuable treatise on pomology would be one descriptive 
of the wants of each sort. The pomologist must, therefore, 
study the constitution and natural tendencies of each A r ariety, 
as a father would those of his children : — 



1 Each tree a child, your aid their weakness rears, 
Directs their youth, and tends their drooping years, 
Their different bents you mark -with studious eye, 
Their laws you give, their manners you supply ; 
Directing thus their rlowrets, fruits and leaves, 
Your potent hand Creation's work achieves." 



My experience has so often been solicited by private com- 
munication in relation to the pear upon the quince stock, that 
I deem it proper to introduce it in this connection, with the 
reasons on which it is founded. Many varieties of the pear 
thus grafted grow vigorously, and bear abundantly. I am 
aware that an impression has prevailed in the minds of some 
unfavorable to the cultivation of the pear on the quince stock, 
an impression which must have arisen from an injudicious 
selection of varieties, or improper cultivation. In this 
opinion, I am happy to know that I am sustained by Mr. 
Barry, in his address before the North Western Association 
of Fruit Growers in Iowa, and by other distinguished poniol- 
ogists. Pears upon the quince should be planted in a luxu- 
riant deep soil, and be abundantly supplied with nutriment 
and good cultivation. They should always be planted deep 
enough to cover the place where they were grafted, so that 
the point of junction may be three or four inches below the 
surface. The pear will then frequently form roots inde- 
pendently of the quince, and thus we combine in the tree, 
both early fruiting from the quince, and the strength and 
longevity of the pear stock. For instance, of trees of the 
same variety, standing side by side in my own grounds for 
ten years, and enjoying the same treatment, those on the 



15 

quince stock have attained a larger size, and have borne for 
seven years abundant crops, while those upon the pear stock 
have scarcely yielded a fruit. We have, also, others on the 
quince, which twenty -five years since were obtained at the 
nursery of Mr. Parmenter, where now is the most populous 
part of the city of Brooklyn, N. Y., and which have borne 
good crops for more than twenty years, and are still produc- 
tive and healthy. 

That the introduction and cultivation of the pear upon the 
quince has been a great blessing, I entertain no doubt, espe- 
cially in gardens, and in the suburbs of large towns and cities. 
And as to its adaptation to the orchard,. I see no reason why it 
should not succeed well, if the soil, selection and cultivation 
be appropriate. A gentleman in the eastern part of Massa- 
chusetts planted in the years 1848 and '49 as many dwarf 
pear trees as he could set on an acre of land at the distance 
of eight by twelve feet, and between these rows he planted 
quince bushes. In the fifth year from planting he gathered 
one hundred and twenty bushels of pears, and sixty bushels 
of quinces. Of the former he sold seventy bushels at five to 
six dollars per bushel, and he now informs me that he has lost 
only three per cent, of the original trees, and that the re- 
mainder are in healthful condition. 

Gentlemen of the Society: — 

These suggestions relative to the progress of pomology, 
and the means of its additional advancement, together with 
the motives to future improvement, present a cheering pros- 
pect to American fruit-growers. Wonders have been achieved 
by private enterprise ; but still greater wonders are to be 
realized from associated effort. How great the advantages 
which have resulted to our country from the action of pomo- 
logical societies, especially from their lists of fruits ! Look, 
for example, to that prepared by this society. Who can esti- 
mate the amount of labor and treasure already saved to nurse- 
rymen and fruit-growers, by its list of rejected varieties, by 



16 

preventing the purchase and cultivation of worthless sorts ! 
Its other lists are equally useful. It should therefore be one 
great object of these biennial meetings, to revise and perfect 
the Society's Catalogue of Fruits, and to render it as reliable 
as possible, that it may embody and transmit to posterity the 
ripest experience of the present generation, and become a 
standard in pomology with those who shall come after us. 

I anticipate that, at no remote period, we shall feel the 
necessity of a National Pomological Institute, with an Exper- 
imental Garden, where all the varieties true to name may be 
obtained, where all sorts may be thoroughly tested, and dis- 
tributed to the members of the society, and thus relieve the 
pioneers in American pomology from large expenditures and 
much personal inconvenience. 

But I must not trespass further upon your indulgence. 
Yet I should not do justice to my own sense of propriety did 
I not signify to you my earnest desire to be relieved from the 
responsibilities devolving upon me as your presiding officer. 
These, by the aid of your fraternal counsel and cooperation, I 
have cheerfully sustained for six years, yielding my own 
convenience to your expressed wishes. I beg, however, to 
assure you that, whatever may be my future relation to you, 
it will ever be my endeavor to promote your individual hap- 
piness, and the welfare of this association. 

Gentlemen of Rochester and Vicinity : — 

We have come up here not merely to gratify our curios- 
ity, or to share your hospitality, but to witness your improve- 
ment, and to be instructed by your experience. How aston- 
ishing your progress ! "Within the recollection of some who 
now hear me, this thriving city had scarcely a beginning. 
The surrounding territory was then what we of New Eng- 
land regarded as the Great West, which has since journeyed 
on, and is stayed only by the rolling waters of the Pacific. 
From a reliable source, I learn that the first nursery in this 



17 

vicinity was begun in the year 1833. As late as 1840, there 
were only two small nurseries in Rochester, of about ten 
acres each, with here and there a few patches of apple trees in 
other parts of the country. Now pomology is here gathering 
some of her choicest fruits, and witnessing some of her most 
extensive operations. 

It is estimated that, in the nurseries of Munroe county, 
there are thirty millions of trees, and that, in the whole of the 
nurseries of western New York, commencing at Onondaga 
county, there cannot be less than fifty millions, beside the 
great number which have already been sent out to adorn 
your valleys and crown your hill-tops. These are the prec- 
ious fruits which have been gathered in this locality. Add 
to them the progress of this science in various other sections 
of our Union, and what a charming prospect does our fair 
land present ! 

Fellow Associates : 

In view of this auspicious progress, let us compare ©in- 
experience and results ; let us stimulate each other to still 
greater exertions for the advancement of our common cause. 
Let us endeavor to disseminate the knowledge of the few 
among the many, that Ave ma}" improve the public taste, add 
to the wealth of our republic, and confer on our countrymen 
the blessings of our favorite art. Thus shall we make other 
men happy, and keep them so, — render our own homes the 
abodes of comfort and contentment, and hasten the time when 
the garden shall feel no blight, the fruitful field laugh with 
abundance, and rivers of gladness water the earth. 



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L25 flRY 0F CONGRESS 





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